When You Can't See the Way Out.

We're in our last week of Ruth. We've spent the past few weeks studying the book of Ruth. If you've missed any of them, they're available on the podcast. We also had a reading plan cheat sheet at the welcome table if you've never read the book of Ruth and want to know more about what it's talking about.

So we're going to start today and I'm going to read Ruth chapter 3. If you have your Bibles, you can open it.

One day, Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, "My daughter, should I not try to find a home for you where you will be well provided for. Is not Boaz, with whose servant girls you have been, a kinsman of ours. Tonight he will be winnowing barley at the threshing floor. Wash and perfume yourself, and put on your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don't let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do." "I will do all you ask," Ruth answered. So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law told her to do. When Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he went over to lie down at the far end of the grain pile. Ruth approached quietly, uncovered his feet, and lay down. In the middle of the night something startled the man, and he turned and discovered a woman was lying at his feet. "Who are you?" he asked. "I am your servant Ruth," she said. "Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a kinsman redeemer." The Lord bless you, my daughter," he replied. "This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier. You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor. And now, my daughter, don't be afraid. I will do all you ask. All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character. Although it is true that I am [inaudible] So she lay at his feet until morning, but got up before anyone could be recognized. And he said, "Don't let it be known that a woman came to the threshing floor." He also said, "Bring me the shawl you are wearing and hold it out." When she did, he poured out six measures of barley and put it on her. Then he went back to town. When Ruth came to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, "How did it go, my daughter?" Then Ruth told her all that Boaz had done for her and added, "He gave me these six measures of barley, saying, 'Don't go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.'" Then Naomi said, "Wait, my daughter, until you find out what happens. For the man will not rest until the matter is settled today."

Ruth 3:11-18

Let's pray together and invite the Holy Spirit to speak through this text. God, we thank you so much for your presence in this place. We thank you that when we open your word, we get to hear straight from your heart. God, I just pray for these next few moments. Would you illuminate the scripture. We know that all scripture is God-breathed and we just pray, Lord, would you breathe over us.

God, would you pour your spirit out as we begin to learn more about this story and the ways that you are using it to speak to us and to the places that we are in the midst of this story right now. So God, we just welcome you. We say, Holy Spirit, have your way. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Sight in the darkness

For the past couple of years we've had this tradition as a church where we've gone to a pumpkin patch and a corn maze together for a little fall day away. One we've gone to for a while, I think it's Schuster's. But it has not only a corn maze, but all the other activities.

One of them is my favorite thing, and I still am like, if I want to do something fun, I think about how fun this is. It's the pitch-black curtain maze. Does anyone know what I'm talking about. Have you been there.

It's hilarious. I don't know why I think it's so fun, but you step into a room that is pitch black and you can't see anything. Not even the person in front of you. There's no light peeping through. And you just kind of have to push around these curtains and try to find your way out because it's a maze, right.

Now, what happens in this is I find it fun because I know there's a way out, right. Now, if somebody just stuck me in a dark room and I did not know that there was a way for me to get out, that doesn't sound so fun anymore. The fun is gone.

One year in particular, all of a sudden, people are running out of this maze. We're like, what's happening. They're like, there's smoke. There's a fire. Something caught on fire in this maze. So everybody had to evacuate.

Now, I want you to think if you were in that maze and you see smoke or fire, what would you do. Run, right. No heroic responses. You are running out of that maze, just like everybody else ran out.

I think for so many of us, and what we're going to see in the story of Ruth, is when we find ourselves in dark places in life where we can't see a way out, where we can't see what's around the corner, we're just touching everything like, what's happening. What's going on. For some of us, when the flame comes and things start to get heated, our first response is not to run and to take the next step to get out. But we stay so long in a place of trying to figure out what's happening. Why is this happening. What's going on. And we stay stuck in the heat of what's happening rather than taking a step to get out.

When everybody ran out, they knew that there were employees nearby. There were people ready to take care of it. So the job of everybody was just get out and run as fast as you can. But there's always a temptation for us when we can't see what's happening to get stuck in the what and the why rather than asking, what is my invitation and what's the next step that I should take.

In chapter one of Ruth, we see that hardship happen. She's married. Her husband dies. Her father-in-law dies. Her brother-in-law dies. She is a foreigner in this land. She stays with her mother-in-law. She goes to a place where there is no clear picture of what's going to happen. Where are we going next. But instead of sitting and staying stuck in the why is this happening, God show me the full picture, Naomi and Ruth continued to ask, what's the next step. What's the next step. What's the next step. And there was a way out.

Our main point for today is knowing how the story ends changes how we live in the present. And our practical takeaway is this: know the story. So your simple practice is keep reading scripture so we know God's story.

We've been saying it for the past couple of weeks. The good news for us is that we know the end of the story. We know that even as we look at the life of Ruth and Boaz, this is just a picture of Jesus coming to be our ultimate kinsman redeemer, to save everything that needed to be saved, to redeem each and every one of our stories and to invite us to participate in his.

We know how the story ends. So it's a little easier to take the next step and to trust. When we might not know why we got here, how we got here, we might not know exactly every detail of what's going to happen next, but we do know that it ends with us spending eternity with Jesus, dwelling in the house of the Lord forever. When we know the end of the story, it changes how we live in the present.

The unseen details of redemption

I want to talk about how there were many different things that happened in the story of Ruth. Many of them we see on the surface level. We can go through and bullet point and say, okay, this is what happened. This is what was happening. But there are also so many unseen, seemingly insignificant things that happened that were actually God weaving them together to write an incredible story of redemption.

In chapter three, this is the scene. We see Naomi comes up with a plan. She's like, okay, here's the plan. You need a kinsman redeemer. Go find the kinsman redeemer. Go ask Boaz. That's the plan. That's the next step. And Ruth is saying like, okay, I'll do whatever you say. She's literally quoted saying that. She's like, whatever you say, I'm here. I'm in it.

Then we see that Ruth goes and she takes this initiative. She goes and she lays at Boaz's feet in the middle of the night. We're going to explain what's happening. Then we see the response where he responds with both kindness and also integrity. He's kind of sneaking her out in the morning before anybody sees because he's like, I don't want anyone to get any ideas about her.

This is what we see happen, the bullet points, right. But then here's the unseen of what's going on.

So first I want to talk about the laying at Boaz's feet. What is happening here. This is one of the many things that you read in scripture sometimes and you're like, wait, what did I just read. Like what just happened here. Like she went in the middle of the night, he's lying there and she goes and uncovers his feet and lays at them.

This is not normal. There's a couple of things. One, naturally, the uncovering was probably just a way to wake him up. Like if you're cold at night and all of a sudden your feet are exposed, I'd be a little shocked. You're going to be like, oh, good morning. Hello. What's happening.

But here's the unseen. Laying at someone's feet was a sign of submission. It was a sign of honor. Ruth's action of lying at Boaz's feet was a sign of submission. By following Naomi's instruction, she was demonstrating not only submission to Naomi, not only saying that she's willing to submit to Boaz, but to God's plan. This is a key theme in the story for Ruth, that she continues to submit and be faithful to the next step.

Can you imagine in that moment her being like, okay, I'm going to go lay at his feet. That's a strange step, but she took it in obedience. To give some cultural context here, typically families would all kind of sleep together or the people that were working with you might all sleep together to stay warm. So it's probably not quite the setting of like Boaz is alone in his bedroom and she comes into his bedroom. It's not quite that scandalous of what's happening here. There was probably other people around, but there's still this level of okay, this could look bad. So that's where he sends her off.

Then we see the barley. What's with the barley. Barley was one of the first harvests of the year. Later would come the wheat harvest and things like this, but barley was known as one of the first harvests of the year. Barley was a source of providence and sustenance, something that could sustain them. So this gift of saying, take this to your mother-in-law, take this back to her, this barley was almost this sign of God reminding them like, I'm going to provide. I'm going to provide. I'm going to provide.

Then we see the covering of the garment. Ruth approaches Boaz at the threshing floor and asks him to spread the corner of his garment over her. Garments were signs of protection. They were a way that this act of covering her was also this sign of commitment to her, acknowledging like, hey, I'm going to redeem you. And it was this restoration that was happening here in this moment. We know foreshadowing Christ's covering to us, that Jesus came to protect us.

Jesus says in Matthew 23 that he gathers all the people and hides them under his wings. How many times in scriptures do we see this covering that he's letting us know, like I'm here, I'm covering you, I'm protecting you through my death and my resurrection.

Christ's covering through his blood brought restoration to our relationship with God when he died on the cross. Romans 5:9 says:

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him.

Romans 5:9

Jesus came to cover, pay the price for our sins, cover us with the power of his blood. All of this is that theological significance of what is going to happen. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says:

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

2 Corinthians 5:21

So Jesus, him coming to cover us was not just this physical provision, but it was also the spiritual, right. This salvation, this redemption, this restoration.

So Boaz is foreshadowing what Christ is coming to do. But I also think that in a way, there's pieces of Ruth's story that also foreshadow how Jesus was going to come. Boaz is going to be in the lineage of Jesus. But so is Ruth. Ruth was a Moabite and she came and took on a people that were not her own. Through her redemption to Israel came in the same way that Jesus came and took on human flesh to redeem us.

But Ruth is also showing us what it looks like to continue to surrender time and time again to whatever God is going to do with the details of our story. What we continue to see is that God is working through all of the seemingly insignificant moments for greater purpose. He's in the details and he's in our details today too.

The gate and the outsider

I want to keep reading in Ruth chapter 4. Boaz is approaching the one who would have been the first in line to be the kinsman redeemer. He's essentially saying, I thought I should bring the matter to your attention and suggest that you buy it in the presence of these seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, do so. But if you will not, tell me so I will know. For no one has the right to do it except you and I am next in line.

A kinsman redeemer was someone that if your husband died, you would need someone to protect you and to provide for you because as a woman, you weren't culturally able to do that on your own. A family member, the next person in line, usually a brother or a close relative, would then be responsible and have the opportunity to come in and essentially redeem you, be your kinsman redeemer. They would be able to purchase the property, but with that would also come the women.

So at first, the first in line is like, done. Let me buy that. I'll take the land. Then Boaz says, oh, and on the day you buy the land from Naomi and from Ruth, the Moabite. He's saying here, he's mentioning where she's from. I think this is important for us to notice. You acquire the dead man's widow in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property.

Whoever would take on the widow, if she went on to have more children, the children would not be in the kinsman redeemer's name, but it would be in her former husband who has passed his name. So a way to carry on that line. So there's a lot of implications. It's not just like, great, I get all this land. You also have to take care of the family and the family line.

So when he's hearing all this, that there's not only a widow, but there's also a Moabite involved, the kinsman redeemer said, I cannot redeem because I might endanger my own estate. You redeem it yourself. I cannot do it. He's out now. He's like, I don't want to mess with that.

In earlier times of Israel, for the redemption and transfer of property to become final, one party took off his sandal and gave it to the other. This was the method of legalizing transactions in Israel. I love when scripture just explains scripture. They're like, let me tell you what's happening.

So the kinsman redeemer said to Boaz, buy it yourself. And he removed his sandal, which was signifying then this is a deal. So Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, today you are witnesses that I have brought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Kilion, and Mahlon. I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite's widow as my wife in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from the town records. Today you are my witnesses.

Why is this so cool. He's taking on something not for his own name. He's taking on something not for his own people. He is taking on someone that is not from his own people in order to continue a line that's not even going to be about him or his name. This is powerful stuff.

Then the elders and all those at the gate said, we are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you have standing in Ephraim and be famous in Bethlehem. Through the offspring the Lord gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez whom Tamar bore to Judah. Powerful stuff is happening in this scripture.

So much that is seen, so much that is unseen. What is the scene. We see that Boaz's action. He's redeeming Ruth. He's saying yes to this. Then we see this legal process that takes place, the sandal ceremony, they're at the gate. Then we see that people are blessing them. People are blessing them. They're saying, yes, let it be. Of your offspring. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah. Blessings upon blessings from the people.

Now, what is unseen. What is the insignificant stuff that you might just look at and be like, that's not a big deal. A lot of the things that are actually so powerful to the story in this moment were extremely ordinary to the people of that time, starting with the gate.

They were going to places that they would go to all the time. They were doing things that were normal for them. Why do I want to bring this up. Because I want to encourage all of us that in the same way that today, the things that might seem insignificant, like going to the grocery store, like pumping your gas, like going to work every day, like saying hi to your neighbors, like saying hi to someone you don't know in this room and asking how they're really doing, it might just seem like, yeah, this is what I do. It's seemingly insignificant, a part of the ordinary. And it can be right then and there that if we let it, God chooses to use those moments to bring redemption and restoration and healing in ways that we can't even understand. But too often we get stuck in thinking that God only moves in what we think are big ways.

But in reality, if we take time enough to see and to hear and to listen and to lean in and to understand, we will see that God is weaving every single detail of our lives together for his glory and for our good.

So I want to talk first about this gate. This is where they went for different legal things. This is where decision-making happened in ancient Israel. The gate was very important for the elders, for the judges to gather. It was also kind of a part of public life. A gate was a place of social interaction. People entered and exited through a gate, just like we do now. We enter and exit through a gate, but it would have been like a gate into the town or into the city. People would just be hanging out there. It was a place of access for people.

In John 10:7 through 9, Jesus come in the New Testament and he refers to himself. He says:

I am the gate.

John 10:7-9

Now when we hear that in our cultural context and our lens, we might just be like, cool. Like yes, he's a gate. He's a door. Like we open and we walk through. But the people that he would have been talking to, they understood the power and the significance of what took place at the gate, what the gate was. So Jesus is saying, I'm the gate. I'm the access to salvation. I'm the gate. I'm your security. I'm the one that protects you. I'm the one that keeps you safe. I'm the gate. I give you access to life abundantly. You can come in and you can dwell.

The gate was a powerful, ordinary thing, yet it played a huge part in who Jesus is telling us that he was. In the Old Testament, the gate of the temple was the entry point into God's presence. And so when Jesus is saying, I'm the gate, he's saying, you no longer have to be a special person in a special place, but you come through me if you want to encounter the presence of God. I am the gate. I am the access.

Ruth is mentioned several times that she was a Moabite. Why do we keep talking about that. I think there are so many different reasons why this is significant, that Ruth was a Moabite, that she was what was considered an outsider. I think in some ways we make such a big deal about it. And God was probably just like, well, of course she's going to be a part of my story. Like she's just my child, right. Like he just sees us as children. But first he's like, she's my child, like she's my daughter. And then where we're from, our families, you know, all that stuff. But then there keeps being this emphasis like, but the Moabite, remember the Moabite, the Moabite. And it's like, why can't we just say Ruth. Like why can't we just say that.

But there was such an emphasis on it because there was so much division. The Moabites were historically enemies of Israel in the Old Testament. They were descendants of Lot and his daughters. Lot was the nephew of Abraham. And if you've read in Genesis, we see the story of Abraham, where God promised him that through him, he would bless all nations. And he said, look up at the stars. As many as you can count, like that's the amount of descendants you're going to have. And so there's this promise that was given to Abraham.

But then Lot was his nephew, was a part of his family. They have this huge falling out because essentially Lot fled with his family and he decided to plot himself near Sodom and Gomorrah and he essentially turned away from God. And so he had consequences to his story. He does not go on to be someone that is known as highly favored. But we have the story of his wife where God said, don't look back. And she looked back and turned into a pillar of salt. And in Genesis, we see wild things that happen. And so what happens from this is that the Moabites and the Ammonites come into the picture. And the Moabites were now from this point known as enemies of Israel. And this is where Ruth comes from. She comes from what people would have been known to them as enemies.

But despite this, through her faith, through her loyalty, for her saying, I am going to put myself in a land with people that I know see me as an enemy, God used her to bring redemption. But she's not the only outsider that is mentioned in this story or even in the lineage of Jesus.

Tamar is mentioned at the end of this passage. Her story is also found in Genesis 38, and hers is a tale of survival and injustice that was done to her. She was married and then she was married to the son of Judah but he died young. According to the custom there, someone would have had to marry her to take care of her. She can't get married on her own. And Judah was not doing what was right to her and was not providing for her in the way that he should have. And so Tamar takes matters into her own hands. She disguises herself as a prostitute and she seduces Judah and she continues to then go on and get pregnant. And now she's a part of the story and this line, the line of Judah. It wasn't this beautiful picture, right. It wasn't this super great thing. As injustice was done to her, she takes matters into her own hands, but now her name is in the lineage of Jesus.

Another thing for us to think about when we talk about some of the outsiders that are mentioned is Bathsheba is in the lineage of Jesus. Bathsheba, a woman that was taken advantage of by King David, a woman that had things that were not only happened to her, but then her reputation is misunderstood and told in terrible ways. And she's in the lineage of Jesus.

And then we see Rahab, who was Boaz's mother. And I think it's no mistake that Ruth, this foreigner, this outsider, this person that was in impossible situations now gets redeemed by the son of another woman who was in impossible situation and is coming from a background that she probably is not proud of in this moment. Both of these women, Ruth and Rahab, are these outsiders that God chose to include in his plan. And I say outsiders because that's how they would have been named. But the reality is, I don't think God ever saw them as that. I don't think he ever looked at them at any moment in their life and said that you're not going to be a part of my story. That I don't have a plan for how I want to use your pain and the things that you're walking towards.

So many of the women that were named in the lineage of Jesus, these spiritual mothers that we still tell their stories, their stories were full of survival, were full of sacrifice, were full of injustice, were full of them having moments where they could have chosen to stay stuck and keep saying, what is happening. God, why me. What are you doing. But instead they chose to just take that next step and the next step and the next step.

Moving forward with faith

I think for some of us, even today, maybe there are still things that we're holding onto, things that maybe were mistakes that you made that cost you something. Or maybe there are things that have happened to you that were so out of your control. Maybe you're right now walking in painful, what seems to be impossible situations. And can I encourage you to just keep inviting Jesus in over and over and over again.

Some of these women in these stories, they did make mistakes. They did things that were probably not honoring and holy to God, but there's forgiveness and there's redemption for that. And some of them, it was completely out of their control and things just happened to them that were wrong and were unjust. But most of them, it was a little bit of everything happening all at once. Yet God chose to redeem every detail of their stories.

How do we continue to invite Jesus in over and over again. I want to get to a few practical things here.

The first is this: don't focus on the why. And this is hard, right. This is really hard for us to do. But if we spend all of our time focusing on the why, we're going to miss the invitation that God has for us to take the next step to get through the situations that we're in.

The next is to continue to walk in that boldness and that confidence. Because we do know how the story ends, right. Like we know that there's a way out. We know that there's healing. Maybe not on this side of eternity, but we know on the other there will be. And so we can walk in boldness and confidence in whatever step the Lord is asking us to take next to get through this part of our story to that next chapter, knowing how the story ends.

And then how do we trust God with the details. This is an invitation that we have every single day, is to say, God, I'm just going to lean in and listen to what you're asking, and I'm going to trust that you're weaving it all together for your glory and for my good. We are all a part of his story. When we walked into this room today, now we're all a part of each other's stories, and it's all getting woven together. We don't know the significance of a conversation we may have or a prayer we may pray with someone, right. We don't know the significance of these seemingly ordinary moments. If we come to church on Sundays, that's what we do. But this could be a day where God completely chooses to heal something, restore something, redeem something in your life.

We don't know what he's doing. And we can either stay stuck in the why is this happening. God, what's going on. Will you show me the whole picture. Or we can say, what's my invitation. And step into that boldly trusting. We know how the story ends. So now what. We know the story. And I think we also have to continue to go back and we have to remember our stories over and over again. Where have you already seen God redeem things in your life. Where have you already seen him honor that when you step out in faith and you step out in boldness, right. Even the fact that we're all in this room today, you know, something got you here. There were steps that you took to be here to hear this word from the Lord.

And we can either stay stuck or we can keep moving forward.

My own story of faith

As I was praying through this this morning, I was reminded of my own pieces of my story, of going back. The Lord just began to highlight moments in my life where I have seen him come through and continue to use details of things that just felt like, well, this is what I have to do and this is what I have to do. Now, I think for Boaz, in a sense, he had this obligation that was like, well, this is what you're supposed to do, but he also had to say yes and be obedient.

And for all of us, we have everyday opportunities of obedience. In the moment, maybe you don't feel the significance, but also you're just like, well, this is what I have to do. But when we look back and we go, wow, God, you were redeeming something there. You were restoring something there.

One of the things that I was reminded of, and I tell these stories often because in a way it's a part of all of our stories, but I was 23 when we decided to plant the church and it was with a team of people and I had a co-pastor that I planted with. Then a year into that I was in India and I was speaking at a conference and leading worship at a church. It was kind of a wild experience because I wasn't planning to lead worship and they're like, oh, will you sing with us, and it was a church of 6,000 people and televised and three services and I was like, uh-huh. Yep. Yep. Sure.

And so there I am and the rest of the songs were not in English but the one they asked me to lead was Waymaker. So I'm here and I'm leading Waymaker. This was probably when it first was getting big. Then a few days later I was getting ready to hop on a plane and come back and I got a text from my co-pastor at the time telling me that his family was moving in three weeks.

So I'm now 24 years old and all I was thinking about was my 25th birthday party and the piñata I wanted, which I did have a good piñata. It was great. And all of a sudden we're a part of a network of churches. I'm getting called into the network and they're saying, okay, so what are you going to do. Like, how do you want to shut the church down. And I remember that moment of like not fully knowing the weight or the cost of like what I was saying yes to.

I remember the weeks leading up to that where it's like I couldn't get out of bed for days because it was like, wait, I thought we were headed this direction. Like when I first moved to Madison I was like, I'll be here for a year or two and then we'll see what's next, you know, like everybody that moves here, right. You're just like, we'll be here for a year or two.

And then all of a sudden I'm sitting in front of these people and I just remember being like, I can't shut this down. Like this isn't just, you know, a church, but like this is a people and like God's doing something. And I couldn't see. And it's funny because I was singing this song a few weeks before in another country being like, God, we know you're moving when we can't see it. And now I'm in this place where it's like, I really can't see. I really don't know what's happening.

The amount of times that I have signed important papers and done things with really shaky hands and going, God, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. But there's this yes and obligation, but also this invitation to be obedient and to step out in boldness and confidence of saying, I don't have to know the details, but I can say yes to this invitation.

I share this because I think for the years following that I was way too stuck in the why, right. And that's a little vulnerable as your pastor to share this because now looking back, I can see how pastoring this community for the past six and a half years has been the greatest gift and the greatest honor. But for so long, it was waking up and going, why. God, what are you doing. Like, show me how you're going to do this.

And it took me several years to get into that place of saying, God, it doesn't matter how this happened or why this happened or how I got here. What matters is right here in this moment. This is where you have me. And so instead of spending so much time stuck on what's happening, right. Where did the fire start. Where's this. Where's that. Of saying, Jesus, you're the one that's working this together. Jesus, you're the one that's redeeming every single detail.

And at some point, it doesn't matter how I got here, but I'm here. So I'm going to say yes to that next invitation. And now looking back, I can see the things that he was doing because I know how the story ended. But the good news is that we all know how the story ends. And so how do we move from this place of saying, why am I here. How did I get here. And instead saying, I'm here. Holy Spirit, what's my invitation and what is my next step. And how do we trust that Jesus is taking care of every single detail. We don't have to worry about tomorrow. He says, I got it. Tomorrow has enough worries about itself. Be present with me in this place. Be present with me here.

You see, Ruth, her story, every single detail was pointing to Jesus. And in the same way, our lives, if we let it, every single detail can point to Jesus. Every single detail can point to these situations of saying, I don't know how this happened, but it did. I don't know how we got here, but wow, God, you're moving and this is amazing. And I'm seeing the healing and I'm seeing the restoration.

Redemption through Jesus

We can let it all be for his glory. If we keep reading in verse 13, it goes on to say the genealogy of David, which in Matthew chapter 1, it says the genealogy of Jesus. So we're seeing the pre-Jesus lineage, right. Jesus comes from the line of David, the line of Judah. It says:

So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. Then he went to her, and the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. The women said to Naomi, "Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a kinsman redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel. He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth."

Ruth 4:13-15

What was taken is now given back. Naomi, it's being said, he will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. Your story today is not over.

No matter how old you are, how many struggles you've had, how many setbacks you've had, how many times you have felt like I can't see a way forward, your story is not over. Ruth conceived when it was said that she can't, right. We can sit in the, I'm too old to give birth. I'm too old to be renewed. It's all downhill from here. I missed it. It's too late. And what's crazy is that I've heard people say these things who are 20 years old and who are 70 years old, right. Like some of us, we might even be feeling that now. We're like, I missed it. It's too late. And we get stuck there.

But the unseen things, God is reminding us today that new life is still coming. There's new gates to walk through. Jesus is the gate. He is the access. He gives us that fullness. He gives us that protection. And so what does it look like for us to look back and remind ourselves of where we have seen that provision, of where we have seen that protection come, of where we have seen his presence come in our lives.

I was just weeping over this text this morning when I read it, because sometimes I think when we start to be reminded of the past, we can get stuck with the triggers of the pain. And I can go right back to those moments and different times in my life where it's like I can't even get myself out of bed because it's too painful, it's too hard.

But what I just felt the Holy Spirit highlighting in this is just that reminder of saying, do you not see you were not left without a kinsman redeemer. Do you not see that darkest point of your life where you thought no one was there. You were not left alone. The presence of God was with you. So when we go back, we might be reminded of the pain, but may we also be reminded that his presence was there, not wanting us to be in pain, but wanting us to know that he was going to use every piece of that for his glory.

So I want to invite you to stand and we're going to close in this time of worship because sometimes we need to sing to ourselves. We need to remind our flesh of the words and the truth that we're singing.

We're also going to have Christy available in the back for prayer today. If you're here and you're like, I am in the middle of a piece of my story where I really can't see, we have the gift of community and partnering with one another. Sometimes if you're like, I don't even have the words to pray, if you want someone to partner with you in prayer for healing, for protection, for provision, for direction, Christy's going to be available in the back.

But what I want you to hear in this moment is that God's presence is with you. That he wants to redeem your story in greater ways than the ways that he's provided in the past. He wants to provide again. So our invitation today is to not stay in the darkness and wonder why, what is happening, but instead to lay it all at his feet in that surrender and that submission and to let Jesus do the work of Jesus. Let Jesus save it. Let Jesus redeem it. Let Jesus restore it and do what only he can do. Let him carry you and lift you up and through.

So God, we thank you today for your presence in this place. God, we thank you for what you are doing in the seemingly insignificant moments, in the seemingly insignificant, ordinary acts of obedience. God, you know our stories. You know what we're walking through. You know what our Mondays look like. You know what we came in here carrying.

And so God, I pray that you would remind us right now that your presence is with us, that you would remind us right now that you have a plan to redeem and restore every single piece of it. God, would you remind us today that in the same way Ruth, some people saw her as an enemy, some people saw her as an outsider, but you welcomed her in every piece of her story. Not just to be an insignificant piece, but a significant piece of your story as she gave birth, as she conceived that child, that your name was going to come from that line. God, you knew what you were doing in that moment.

And so I thank you, Jesus, that for those of us right now, if even as we're thinking about where we've seen you, we're reminded of mistakes that we've made, we're reminded of times that we have brought on our own pain, God, would you help us to once again surrender that and to not stay stuck in the shame of the enemy, but to remember that you want to use everything for your glory.

God, for those of us that are here today and we're walking through seasons that it's like we need healing, we need restoration, we need rest, like we're lost, we're feeling broken, we don't know where to go, God, would you remind us that your presence is with us, that your presence is going before us.

Would we not get so overwhelmed and stuck by the why, but would you help us to just focus and say, what's next. What's that next step, Holy Spirit. And would we be faithful to that, as small and insignificant as it may seem, trusting that you're working it out for your glory and for our good.

And so, Holy Spirit, would you just come and would you heal what needs to be healed, restore what needs to be restored. Would you remind us that we know how the story ends. And in these next few moments as we just lift high your name and we worship and we surrender, would your Holy Spirit just be so present with us. We welcome you.